Although it has been over a year since it made national news, the Trayvon Martin case pushed the country’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” laws into the spotlight, and galvanized the nation’s activist to take a stand against them, particularly among young African Americans.

Now, a group of Florida community members, youth and college students who gained notoriety in the weeks after the George Zimmerman trial verdict, are teaming up with the National Association For The Advancement of Colored People to continue their fight against the state’s controversial legislation.

The organizations have put together a shadow report in response to questions the United Nations Human Rights Committee posed about whether or not “Stand Your Ground” laws violate the United States’ obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a treaty signed by 167 countries to ensure freedoms of religion, speech and assembly, and protect individuals from discrimination, torture and illegal detention. The committee oversees the periodic review of each of the treaty’s signatories.

“’Stand Your Ground’ laws are overly broad and prone to amplifying existing racial biases in the U.S. justice system,” said Dream Defender Legal and Policy Director Ahmad Abuznaid. “They interfere with the most basic and fundamental right – the right to life. When we signed onto the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights over twenty years ago, we were making a commitment to ensure that everyone living within our boundaries has equal access to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Until that dream is fully realized, we must continue to hold our government accountable. Civil rights violations like ‘Stand Your Ground’ hold no place in a just and equal society.”

In the report, the organizations outline how the laws specifically affect communities of color, citing evidence of racial bias in application of the laws and the increase in homicides in states with “Stand Your Ground” laws. According a recent report, justifiable homicides rose sharply in states with the self-defense laws, rising 200 percent in the state of Florida.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee will review the United States’ compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in October.

Between moments of exuberant worship and quiet prayer, Rev. Timothy Sloan of St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church in Humble, Texas, infuses his lesson of the day with a topic once considered taboo if not completely off limits among black congregations.

The message of awareness rang throughout the walls of the church at a recent service as part of a larger effort to address a challenge that Sloan and a growing number of pastors are aligning with the NAACP to combat – the HIV/AIDS epidemic and its impact on the African-American community.

Combatting HIV/AIDS through the black church

The increased, collaborative effort to destigmatize and address HIV comes at an urgent time for black Americans. More than one million people in the U.S. are living with the disease, and African-Americans suffer from some of the highest rates of HIV and AIDS in the country. African-Americans represent approximately 14 percent of the U.S. population but accounted for almost 46 percent of people living with HIV in 2008, and constituted an estimated 44 percent of new infections in 2009.

The NAACP and its partner, Gilead Sciences, are equipping Sloan and faith leaders across the country with new ways to engage their congregants in conversations about HIV/AIDS, by urging them to be health activists who advocate for health equity, frequent HIV screenings and access to affordable health care.

Sloan’s church now holds a yearly HIV/AIDS Town Hall Meeting that combines the voices of local advocates and organizations to talk about awareness. They also host local trainings for pastors and faith leaders on how to take action to end this epidemic.

Black church: A history of helping

Since the beginning, African-American houses of worship have served as epicenters of their communities and as a loud voice on social justice issues, ranging from poverty to discrimination. The same black church that ushered in the historic victories of the Civil Rights era will stand once again at the forefront of this important social justice issue.

But despite the Center for Disease Control’s alarming findings that the number of new HIV/AIDS infections among blacks is nearly 8 times the rate of whites and double that of Latinos, churches have historically avoided discussion of the disease in order to skirt other taboo topics such as homosexuality and premarital sex.

Pastor Sloan, along with dozens of pastors across the country, understands that to truly stop this crisis, the church must serve as a reliable and audacious partner in the fight to end HIV/AIDS. Joining the fight, the NAACP, another longtime institution in the black community has actively engaged in bringing pastors and health advocates to the front line of this epidemic.

A grassroots method of intervention

Two years ago, the NAACP and our partner in this initiative Gilead Sciences, began a 12-city research tour to cities with a high prevalence of HIV among African-Americans. We met with over 250 faith leaders across denominations to identify best practices and challenges when addressing HIV within the black church. In response, the NAACP developed The Black Church and HIV: The Social Justice Imperative.

As part of the pilot initiative, we produced a Pastoral Brief to assist and encourage faith leaders to engage in HIV discussion and advocacy. These briefs assist pastors in talking about HIV/AIDS in their sermons, connecting their churches with groups that serve people with HIV, promoting safe sex and access to condoms, and organizing church-based HIV screening drives.

Our efforts are taking root. Earlier this summer, the NAACP held its second annual Day of Unity. In nearly 100 cities across the country, faith leaders committed to preach about HIV/AIDS as a social justice issue, educate their parishioners about treatment and prevention, and stress the normalcy of routine testing.

But there’s much work to be done. To double down in our fight against the disease, we at the NAACP and Gilead Sciences just announced our joint Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Commitment to Action to significantly scale up our response to HIV/AIDS.

This is a social justice issue. Research shows that African-Americans are disproportionately impacted by this disease, not because we are more promiscuous, but because, more than any other racial group, we live in areas with high concentrations of HIV infections. We also know that socio-economic disparities have burdened the black community for generations including inadequate access to care, disproportionate rates of poverty, and limited access to screenings.

NAACP: Taking a powerful stand

We at the NAACP have a responsibility speak up for those who do not have a voice – the undiagnosed – by advocating for increased testing, education, and policies aimed at stopping the rates of new infections and increasing the access to care, especially in communities of color. We must also eradicate the stigma facing HIV-positive people of color, who need compassion and resources the most. But we can’t succeed in this journey alone. The black church must be our partner.

A conversation about HIV/AIDS must begin in the pulpit and reach the pew so it can reverberate to the streets, and underscore the prevalence of this disease. Rev. Sloan is doing his part to break down the barriers to empowerment at his Baptist church in Humble, Texas, and it will take faith leaders like him from every state and every denomination to make a dent in this disease.

Together, we have the power – and the social justice imperative – to take a stand. Let’s exhibit the courage.

Rev. Al Sharpton (C), president of the National Action Network, speaks during a news conference outside the U.S. Justice Department while discussing planned ‘Justice for Trayvon’ vigils in 100 cities across the United States this weekend July 16, 2013 in Washington, DC. Sharpton also called for the federal government to investigate civil rights charges against George Zimmerman, who was found not guilty of second-degree murder in the February 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Treyvon Martin. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

by Mary C. Curtis

As Ben Jealous prepares to step down from his leadership post at the end of this year, there is no question that he brought stability and visibility in his five years as the president and CEO of the NAACP.

Now, as members and observers give Jealous a proper celebratory sendoff, they are also looking to the future of the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. How is the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, founded in 1909, tackling 21st-century challenges and what is its relationship with other civil rights organizations?

There is still much work for the NAACP in a nation where, with its help, progress has been made but where inequality remains. Many issues look familiar. For example, at this year’s commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, voting rights and income inequality battles topped the agenda in 2013, as in 1963. However, some tactics and players had changed.

At the Aug. 24 “Realize the Dream” event the weekend before the official anniversary with President Obama in attendance, tens of thousands gathered on the National Mall to hear speeches by Jealous and others.

It was, however, the Rev. Al Sharpton and his National Action Network (NAN) – a host alongside the NAACP and others – center stage at the Lincoln Memorial. Sharpton walked arm in arm during the march with U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia — a young SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) leader when he spoke in 1963 — and Martin Luther King III.

The two organizations with different histories have worked together on events. Both have weighed in on racial profiling, recently in the response to the killing of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., and subsequent acquittal of George Zimmerman for the shooting.

That said, a New York City “Justice for Trayvon” rally after the verdict was organized by NAN, with Sybrina Fulton, Martin’s mother, alongside Sharpton and attendees that included Beyonce and Jay Z.

In a Miami rally that was part of 100 NAN-led events across the country, Tracy Martin, Trayvon Martin’s father, appeared with Bishop Victor Curry, president of the South Florida chapter of NAN and director of the southeast region. In the past, Curry served two stints heading the Miami-Dade NAACP, the last term ending about a year and a half ago, he told theGrio.

“I have nothing but respect for the NAACP,” Curry said, praising its longevity. “Being around over 100 years, that says a lot about the organization. But I think sometimes a discouraging aspect of working with an organization that has been around that long, sometimes it becomes top heavy.”

He said, “Before you can get things done in your local branch you go through so many different layers of leadership, and by the time you get approval from everybody the situation you’re dealing with on the ground has almost passed.”

“That was what was refreshing with me from Reverend Sharpton,” Curry said. “He gives his chapter presidents a lot of leeway to deal with what’s going on in their communities.”

In his first time as head of the Miami-Dade NAACP, Curry, who pastors two Baptist churches and is president, general manager and talk-show host at a radio station, said the national sent him a letter telling him to “cease and desist” his on-air criticism of the organization’s position — in the aftermath of a rash of police shootings — not to reconsider a decision to hold its convention in Miami Beach.

“We needed the NAACP to think about not coming,” he said. “Instead of them wanting me to discuss it they told me to shut up. I’m on the ground; I’m having to bury these young men. For the national to do that that kind of hurt me.” When the federal government subsequently indicted 11 police officers, Curry felt a measure of vindication.

National Action Network, founded in 1991, says in its mission statement that it “works within the spirit and tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to promote a modern civil rights agenda.” Curry said he favors that “preacher-friendly” tradition, “birthed out of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.”

Curry said he spoke with longtime friend Sharpton about working together. Sharpton’s MSNBC show Politics Nation provides a Monday-to-Friday cable megaphone. Though NAN has chapters throughout the nation, its personality is tied to Sharpton, its founder, and his swift reaction to controversies.

“You don’t try to stifle that,” said Curry. “You ride the wave. You strengthen the organization so that when it’s time for these others chapters to fly, they can fly.” He said, “I believe NAN is strong enough and has enough strong chapter leaders.”

Mississippi Field Secretary Medgar Evers was murdered for his civil rights organizing in 1963; his widow, Myrlie Evers-Williams, became the third woman to chair the NAACP in the 1990s. Some say it is time for another woman to lead the group.

“Most people don’t understand what the NAACP has always understood, and that is that movements come from the bottom up, not from the top down,” Rev. Dr. William Barber, North Carolina NAACP president, told theGrio. The organization initiated and has led “Moral Monday” demonstrations — noted for the diversity of the thousands who participated — which continue to protest a conservative wave of legislation enacted by Republican super-majorities in the state legislature.

“When you become president of the NAACP, you don’t have to field an organization in North Carolina, you have one. You don’t have to field an organization in Mississippi, there already is one, with leadership that gives their lives to this work voluntarily. … That’s been the power and the consistency of it,” he said. “President Jealous was able to put forward a vision to expand on an already strong foundation.”

“Sometimes people mistake deliberation for slowness,” Barber said. “The NAACP is deliberate when it gets involved in an issue. We’re not a helicopter organization; we don’t just pop in and pop out. In North Carolina, we didn’t just have a march, we started a movement.”

He said the North Carolina group’s activism goes back years, when Democrats were in office, “pushing through same-day registration, early voting and Sunday voting and the Racial Justice Act, more money for education, standing up against voter ID when it first came up, suing over redistricting and building relationships with our coalition partners.”

After arrests at the first Moral Monday, “it sent a signal to people we already had relationships with — over 13 weeks, 1,000 arrested. That didn’t happen because a William Barber popped into North Carolina, gave a speech and popped out. It happened because the NAACP has a history of grassroots, branch-up work.”

Barber said, “No human organization is perfect. But very few organizations can look at its [sic] track record and say every major victory we’ve ever won on the national and the state level bettered America.” After Jealous, “whoever is CEO,” said Barber, “male, female, young, old, whomever God sends, first thing is they become not so much a CEO but the leader of the largest volunteer civil rights program in the world.”

In telling its history, which includes the names W.E.B. Du Bois, Rosa Parks and Charles Hamilton Houston, the NAACP acknowledges occasional friction with groups that advocated more direct action. “Although it was criticized for working exclusively within the system by pursuing legislative and judicial solutions, the NAACP did provide legal representation and aid to members of other protest groups over a sustained period of time,” the group’s website says.

Curry, of NAN in Miami, said, “I’m not naïve. I know back in the day, all of the civil rights organizations weren’t always on the same page. They were mature enough to put aside their difference for a greater cause.” He said, “I think it’s going to take all of the organizations working together in order to keep the powers that be [with their] feet to the fire.” He also said he is a big William Barber fan.

Barber, who has been a guest on Sharpton’s MSNBC show, said, “The true reality of the first March on Washington is that Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph insisted and demanded that people not be stuck in their egos — whether it be organizational ego or whether it be personality ego. What we must understand, particularly in the south, is you cannot have social, political and economic victories without fusion politics.”

As was the case 50 years ago, when leaders of a host of civil rights groups, from the National Urban League to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the NAACP and others shared the stage and the job of challenging the country to live up to its promise of equal rights for all, the job is still big enough to keep different organizations plenty busy.

For now, those organizations are planning their next steps, separately and together.

Benjamin Todd Jealous announced Monday that he has decided to resign from his position as the president of the NAACP.

Jealous, 40, has been the head of the civil rights organization for just over five years and led the NAACP to much success.

However, he says the work load has been grueling and consequently, has limited his time at home with his family.

“Five years ago I made two promises,” Jealous said in a press conference call Monday. “One was to the organization; I would step up and lead a successful effort to take us to the next level.”

“My second promise was to my daughter, who on her 4th birthday asked when she was going to get her daddy back and have her daddy at home,” he added.

At the time he was appointed in 2007, Jealous was the youngest president in the 104-year history of the NAACP. He was 35 years old and in addition to the responsibilities he held as president, he was also a newlywed and a young father.

Upon his induction, Jealous said he promised his daughter that she would “get her daddy back” in five years – which was the amount of time he allotted to accomplish the personal and professional goals he put in place.

During that time, Jealous and his team have increased the number of online activists from 175,000 to over 675,000, doubled the organization’s revenue from $23 million since 2007 and nationally expanded their donor base by more than 100,000 individuals per year.

However, this year more than ever, Jealous has reflected on his promise to his daughter and while he has just now decided to go public with the news, he says he made the decision to step down in August.

The resignation will take effect on New Year’s Eve and Jealous said he will continue to be active in the NAACP over the next four months.

Following that time, Jealous said he plans to pursue opportunities in academia to teach the next group of social justice advocates and dedicate more personal time to his wife, Lisa Epperson Jealous, and two children.

“Professionally, I plan to focus on training the next generation of leaders,” he said. “Personally, I plan on spending a lot more time at home just being dad.”

Jealous’ successor has not yet been identified but a search committee has been established to recruit and review candidates.

“We are sharing our disappointment that Jealous is leaving us after a very successful 5 years,” said Roslyn M. Brock, Chairman of the NAACP Board of Directors. “Clearly he has reenergized the field of the NAACP and we have made many stellar accomplishments that we are most proud of.”

Despite the many achievements, Brock said the organization still has much to do and credits Jealous for the insight and lessons he has shared that will help guide the organization to future success.

“We’re up to the challenge and we’re a stronger organization than we were five years ago due in large part due to his leadership,” she said.

Brock said the organization is pledged to register more than 15,000 new voters by Jan. 14, 2014 and will continue to work on establishing a political pact to support minority candidates – an effort Jealous has supported and will contribute to during the remainder of this time.

“We’re hopeful for the future and we believe we will continue to have a bright future,” Brock said.

She thanked Jealous for the hard work and dedication he has delivered to the NAACP as he shifts his family to the forefront and focuses on personal matters.

Still, Brock said the organization continues to look forward to the potential advances it hopes to make — and reassures that the NAACP is alive and it’s well.

Jimmy Simmons, center, president of the NAACP’s Casper branch , John Abarr, a kleagle of the United Klans of America and other representatives photo from now.msn.com

Leaders from local branches of the Ku Klux Klan and NAACP met in Casper, Wyoming on Saturday in what could be the first time members of the two groups “met in peace.”

President of the Casper branch of the NAACP Jimmy Simmons asked for a meeting between the two groups in June following reports of black men in Gillette allegedly being beaten up for being in the company of white women, according to the Casper Star-Tribune.

An organizer for the United Klans of America in Great Falls, Montana, John Abarr agreed to meet with Simmons to discuss accusations of violence against black men and KKK pamphlets that were being distributed.

The Star-Tribune reported after a brief introduction, Abarr made a point to prove he was apart of anti-racism groups.

However, he then continued to express his desire to secede from the United States.

“The northwest U.S. — Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon — should secede and form a territory.” Blacks can stay there, he supposes, but no more should be allowed in, to keep the region white. “States such as Georgia, which are primarily black, should secede from the union and become a black state,” he said.

Abarr continued, “A certain amount of segregation is a good thing, he says. White police should stay in white neighborhoods and black officers in black neighborhoods. Color-blindness doesn’t even make sense. Interracial marriage? No. It’s better if the races are kept separate. Completely opposed.”

“Because we want white babies,” he added.

During the conversation, Abarr expressed his views on marriage, saying he feels gay marriage and polygamy should both be legal.

The KKK organizer said he disagrees with violence against black men and that new recruits have left the Klan because it is not hateful enough.

On Sunday, the Department of Justice confirmed that they would review the George Zimmerman case, one day after the rogue volunteer watchman was found not guilty of all charges. Tuesday afternoon, Attorney General Eric Holder (pictured) spoke at the NAACP at their annual convention in Orlando, Fla., about the controversial killing of Trayvon Martin, how the murder affected his own life, and upholding the Voting Rights Act.

From the outset, Holder aligned himself with President Barack Obama’s initial statement but assured the audience that the department was looking in to the case diligently:

Today, I’d like to join President Obama in urging all Americans to recognize that – as he said – we are a nation of laws, and the jury has spoken. I know the NAACP and its members are deeply, and rightly, concerned about this case – as passionate civil rights leaders, as engaged citizens, and – most of all – as parents.

This afternoon, I want to assure you of two things: I am concerned about this case and as we confirmed last spring, the Justice Department has an open investigation into it. While that inquiry is ongoing, I can promise that the Department of Justice will consider all available information before determining what action to take.

Breaking with the President in his level of formality, though, Holder got personal, pointing out that his own father had sat him down about being a Black man and dealing with the police:

Years ago, some of these same issues drove my father to sit down with me to have a conversation – which is no doubt familiar to many of you – about how as a young black man I should interact with the police, what to say, and how to conduct myself if I was ever stopped or confronted in a way I thought was unwarranted. I’m sure my father felt certain – at the time – that my parents’ generation would be the last that had to worry about such things for their children.

Holder then spoke about how Trayvon’s death forced him to sit down with his own son:

The news of Trayvon Martin’s death last year, and the discussions that have taken place since then, reminded me of my father’s words so many years ago. And they brought me back to a number of experiences I had as a young man – when I was pulled over twice and my car searched on the New Jersey Turnpike when I’m sure I wasn’t speeding, or when I was stopped by a police officer while simply running to a catch a movie, at night in Georgetown, in Washington, D.C. I was at the time of that last incident a federal prosecutor.

Trayvon’s death last spring caused me to sit down to have a conversation with my own 15 year old son, like my dad did with me. This was a father-son tradition I hoped would not need to be handed down. But as a father who loves his son and who is more knowing in the ways of the world, I had to do this to protect my boy. I am his father and it is my responsibility, not to burden him with the baggage of eras long gone, but to make him aware of the world he must still confront. This is a sad reality in a nation that is changing for the better in so many ways.

As important as it was, I am determined to do everything in my power to ensure that the kind of talk I had with my son isn’t the only conversation that we engage in as a result of these tragic events.

And then insisted that we, as a nation, commit ourselves to constructive and meaningful conversations about justice and look to fix laws that abuse concepts of self-defense:

Today – starting here and now – it’s time to commit ourselves to a respectful, responsible dialogue about issues of justice and equality – so we can meet division and confusion with understanding, with compassion, and ultimately with truth.

It’s time to strengthen our collective resolve to combat gun violence but also time to combat violence involving or directed toward our children – so we can prevent future tragedies. And we must confront the underlying attitudes, mistaken beliefs, and unfortunate stereotypes that serve too often as the basis for police action and private judgments.

Separate and apart from the case that has drawn the nation’s attention, it’s time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense and sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods. These laws try to fix something that was never broken. There has always been a legal defense for using deadly force if – and the “if” is important – no safe retreat is available.

But we must examine laws that take this further by eliminating the common sense and age-old requirement that people who feel threatened have a duty to retreat, outside their home, if they can do so safely. By allowing and perhaps encouraging violent situations to escalate in public, such laws undermine public safety. The list of resulting tragedies is long and – unfortunately – has victimized too many who are innocent. It is our collective obligation – we must stand our ground – to ensure that our laws reduce violence, and take a hard look at laws that contribute to more violence than they prevent.

Holder then spoke to the setback of part of the Voting Rights Act being struck down in June:

Unfortunately, last month, an important piece of this foundation was chipped away – when the Supreme Court invalidated a key part of the Voting Rights Act.

Over the years – and in the past 18 months – this provision, called pre-clearance, allowed the Department to take swift action against numerous jurisdictions that adopted rules or procedures with either a discriminatory purpose or effect. It served as a potent tool for addressing inequities in our elections systems. And it proved the effectiveness of a legal mechanism that puts on hold any new voting changes until they have been subjected to a fair, and thorough, review.

Let me be clear: this was a deeply disappointing and flawed decision. It dealt a serious setback to the cause of voting rights. And, like all of you, I strongly disagree with the Court’s action.

And says his department will continue to ensure that voting rights in this country are upheld:

the Justice Department will continue to monitor jurisdictions around the country for any changes that may hamper voting rights. We will not hesitate to take aggressive action – using every tool that remains available to us – against any jurisdiction that attempts to take advantage of the Supreme Court’s ruling by hindering eligible citizens’ free and fair exercise of the franchise.

We also will not wait for Congressional action to refine – and re-focus – our current enforcement efforts. In fact, I am announcing today that I have directed the Department’s Civil Rights Division to shift resources to the enforcement of Voting Rights Act provisions that were not affected by the Supreme Court’s ruling – including Section 2, which prohibits voting discrimination based on race, color, or language – in addition to other federal voting rights laws.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, June 1, at St. Matthews CME Church for Jessie M. Chaney, the wife of the late Milwaukee Branch NAACP President Felmers Chaney. St. Matthews is located at 2944 N. 9th St. Final viewing from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. The funeral service itself will start at 10 a.m.

Chaney died Friday, May 24 surrouned by family and friends. She was 91. Chaney was a well known civil rights activist in the Milwaukee Black community for over 70 years. She was an executive committee member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Chaney worked tirelessly for the NAACP supporting such initiatives as the insurance redlining lawsuit that garnered national attention.

As a result of the red-lining discrimination lawsuit, $50,000 was awarded to the Milwaukee NAACP in support of the educational scholarship program for youth. Chaney volunteered numerous hours promoting NAACP membership as well as promoting the annual Freedom Fund Dinner. Chaney also took youth involved with the NAACP to enrichment activities such as horseback riding and bowling.

An avid bowler, Chaney was a member of bowling leagues in the Milwaukee area for over 60 consecutive years. She retired after 36 years of service from Allis Chalmers.

For Chaney, working hard, family, and traveling was what life was all about. Chaney was remembered by family and freinds for her boundless optimism, friendliness and graciousness. A perfectionist, Chaney took great care in preparing holiday meals and always invited seniors in the community who had no where else to go.

Chaney was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 70 years, Felmers O. Chaney, mother, Artha L. Martin; Jessie James Jones, father and Ruby Skinner, sister. She leaves to cherish her memory: Debra L. Skinner, niece; Dr. Sharon F. Skinner, niece and a host of loving relatives and friends.

NAACP President Benjamin Jealous has a bold suggestion for President Barack Obama: Appoint an African American woman to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“He still has several more appointments, and we expect that we’ll see at least the same diversity that we saw the first time around,” Jealous told POLITICO. “What we’re hoping to see is a black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Perhaps Jealous is devising a plan to get Obama out of hot water with some Democrats who have accused the president of appointing too many white men to his inner circle and not enough women and people of color.

When Obama named Jack Lew as his Treasury secretary two weeks ago — the fourth white male he has named to Cabinet-level posts in recent weeks – Democrats quickly took Obama to the woodshed for not assembling a more racially-diverse and gender-diverse Cabinet.

But Jealous didn’t just toss out an idea – he also tossed out a name: California Attorney General Kamala Harris – the state’s first African American and Indian American attorney general.

“Kamala Harris would be a brilliant pick,” Jealous said. “I personally would like to see somebody young who could stay on there for decades,” he said. “If you look at what they did with [Justices] Antonin Scalia and with have these guys for decades,” he added. “It’s time for us to [have that]. So yeah, she would be top. But there are several women who could do this job and do it well.”

The outspoken NAACP leader is also reading the political tea leaves: He knows Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg could be considering retirement. She’s 79 years old. Jealous may be on to something: Harris, 48, is a rising star in the Democratic Party who has been called “the female Barack Obama” in some political circles.

Harris, who was born in Oakland, has focused on combating gangs that are trafficking guns, drugs, and human beings throughout California.

She also secured an estimated $18 billion from the nation’s banks as part of the recent National Mortgage Settlement.

he also attended Howard University, where she pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Meanwhile, some prominent Democrats have been turning up the heat on Obama and criticizing his recent appointments.

“It’s embarrassing as hell,” said New York Democrat Charles Rangel, one of the most senior black members of Congress. But Jealous said it’s still too early to beat up on Obama.

“At the end of the day — this president has been committed to diversity. He showed that in his first term and we owe it to him to let him finish making his appointments before we pass judgment,” Jealous said. “We want to see a Cabinet that represents the country.” The president was forced to defend his record on diversity last week and said his critics should not rush to judgment.

“I’m very proud that in the first four years, we had as diverse, if not a more diverse, White House and a Cabinet than any in history,” Obama said. “I intended to continue that, because it turns out when you look for the very best people, given the incredible diversity of this country, you’re going to end up with a diverse staff.”

Meanwhile, POLITICO listed Harris as one of its 13 top people to watch in politics in 2013. “…Many Democrats sense her catapulting up the ranks in the party — and soon,” according to POLITICO.

Harris has a bright political future. We’ll see if she catapults all the way to the Supreme Court.

Baltimore, MD – The NAACP applauds President Obama for choosing civil rights icon and NAACP Chairman Emeritus Myrlie Evers-Williams to deliver his invocation during his inauguration on January 21st.

“Myrlie Evers-Williams embodies the essence of the civil rights movement and the struggle toward the more perfect union our Constitution envisions,” stated Roslyn M. Brock, the current chairman of the NAACP National Board of Directors. “We are thrilled she has received this honor and applaud President Obama for his inspirational selection.”

“Myrlie Evers-Williams is a heroine,” stated NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous. “She represents the best qualities of the American people and the transformative possibilities of American democracy. Her selection for this sacred task will serve as a reminder to our nation that civil rights must remain at the forefront of our society.”

Evers-Williams is a highly respected civil rights icon who served as chairman of the NAACP from 1995-1998. Evers-Williams is also the widow of Medgar Evers, who was murdered by a white supremacist in 1963 while serving as the NAACP’s first field secretary in Mississippi. She went on to become the founder of the Medgar Evers Institute in Jackson, Miss and currently serves as a Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at Alcorn State University.

“I am humbled to have been asked to deliver the invocation for the 57th inauguration of the President of the United States—especially in light of this historical time in America when we will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement,” Myrlie Evers-Williams said today. “It is indeed an exhilarating experience to have the distinct honor of representing that era.”

Felmers O. Chaney, Milwaukee’s first African American police sergeant and long-time president of the Milwaukee Branch of the NAACP is dead at age 94.

A lifetime champion for civil rights, Chaney devoted his life to Milwaukee’s Black community, improving the quality of life and ensuring that the voices of the disenfranchised are represented and heard.

Born in Spooner, WI, Chaney was the first African American graduate of that town’s high school. A veteran of WWII, Chaney was a MPD officer for more than 36 years. He became noted for keeping order on Walnut Street, which he patrolled.

Chaney wore other hats besides that of a police officer. He served as president of the Central City Development Corporation, CEO of the North Milwaukee state Bank, director of the Better Business Bureau, the Commando Project and USO. He is also a former president of the Milwaukee Urban League.

As president of the Milwaukee NAACP, Chaney fought tirelessly for equal and civil rights, participating in or leading many demonstrations on behalf of civil and human rights, from working to have Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday declared a national holiday, fighting against apartheid, to creating greater opportunities for Black Milwaukeeans in the trades.

Even after he retired from the police department, Chaney remained active in community activities including serving as acting chairman for the community advisory board for the Milwaukee Women’s Center/Marshal E. Sherrer Correctional Center Community Advisory Board, a member of the Milwaukee Economic Development Corporation Board, and the Wisconsin Crime Victims Council Board.

Thompson cited Chaney’s community service work and distinguished record when dedicating the facility, noting that the facility embraces the belief that Chaney held: People can change if they are given the opportunity, the resources and the direction.

Funeral services are tentatively slated for Friday and Saturday at the Williamson Funeral Home. Chaney is survived by his wife, Jessie Chaney, and a sister.